Transcript for Chris Christie in State of the State: Mistakes Were Made

Now to new jersey governor chris christie digging out from that traffic scandal that could block his road to the white house. He tried to move beyond bridgegate in his state of the state speech and a new poll shows he's holding his own with new jersey voters. Abc's jim avila has been on the story from the start. Reporter: Chris christie's fourth state of the state address as new jersey governor was clearly high stakes. The normally bombastic governor stood outside the statehouse chamber, his face showing the tension, his entrance muted despite three minutes of applause. Now, the last week has certainly tested this administration. Reporter: The first four paragraphs of the speech dedicated to those substantiated allegations that some of his closest add advisers urged the port authority to close lanes on the george washington bridge as political retribution. Now, I'm the governor a. And I'm ultimately responsible for all that happens on my watch both good and bad. Reporter: It was not a full mayy kulpa. He used the time-worn phrase other politicians have used to avoid personal responsibilities. "Mistakes were made" rather than "i made a mistake." Mistakes were made and as a result we let down the people we're entrusted to serve. Reporter: He promised not to stonewall the investigation into whether his aides broke the law when they ordered traffic problems at ft. Lee and crippled traffic across the george washington bridge, the busiest in the world for a workweek in september. Without a doubt, we will cooperate with all appropriate inquiries to ensure that this breach of trust does not happen again. Reporter: One of those inquiries will begin tomorrow with the aides christie fired being subpoenaed to testify before the state legislature about who ordered ft. Lee's traffic armageddon and a new quinnipiac poll shows how popular he is in new jersey. His approval rating dropped 20 points after the scandal, but it still stands ats at 55%. The retired police captain

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